Cooling tower sprinkler nozzle

ABSTRACT

A cooling tower sprinkler nozzle adapted to discharge water over a comparatively narrow and relatively long path is disclosed in which a pair of arcuate splitter elements are positioned in spaced relation to the discharge orifice of the nozzle to create oppositely disposed divergent streams which conform generally with the discharge pattern of the sprinkler nozzle.

Emits tates Patent [191 [54] COOLING TOWER SPRINKLER NOZZLE 2,375,5285/1945 DeFlon 239/504 X X 4 2 5 9 3 2 d m a M 5 l 9 l 9 [75] Inventor:Lawrence J. Cox, Bedford Heights,

Ohio

239/504 X Maclnnes et al.

r m u a C 0 5 9 l l [73] Assignee: American LaFrance lnc.,

Willoughby, Ohio Primary Examiner-M. Henson Wood, .lr.

Assistant Examiner-John J Love Apr. 3, 1972 AttorneyWebster B. Harpman[22] Filed:

[21] Appl. No.: 240,600

[57] ABSTRACT sprinkler nozzle adapted to discharge paratively narrowand relatively long ath is disclosed in which a pair of arcuate splittereleositioned in spaced relation to the disrge orifice of the nozzle tocreate oppositely disosed divergent streams which conform generally withm e0 c m p m m m S on m c a a AwPmcD. 76 7 32M3 WUS 6 56 08 ll wt 9 42 2"W5, n 8 :1 w m n N15 C ""2 S "u" e "u" c n n n e n H Mmh H "W" R "3 e Ubu C d 5mm UHF 1]] l. 2 00 6 555 5 [1:1 1

U T STATES PATENTS the diSChfll'gC pattern of thfi sprinkler 02216.

1,674,480 Nelson............................ 239/500 X 5 Claims, 4Drawing Figures COOLING TOWER SPRINKLER NOZZLE BACKGROUND OF THEINVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to fireprotection sprinkler systems and more particularly to a novel coolingtower sprinkler nozzle useful in controlling fires in cooling towersused with air conditioning refrigerating equipment.

2. Description of the Prior Art Prior structures of this type haveemployed water discharge nozzles capable of directing a stream of wateron a substantial horizontal path and for example between the respectivehorizontal sections of a water cooling tower. See for example U.S. Pat.No. 3,208,534 in which a nozzle with an angularly disposed dischargebore is provided with a single off center splitter element relative tothe stream discharged thereby.

Other constructions in the prior art include the nozzles of U.S. Pat.No. 517,411 which provides a splitter element adjustably mounted withrespect to a discharge orifice and U.S. Pat. No. 1,288,123, 1,234,959,and 864,630 provide nozzles with fixed splitter elements. U.S. Pat. No.1,862,396 discloses a nozzle with a conical splitter element.

This invention eliminates the problems inherent in installing andorienting the nozzles of the prior art in order to obtain a satisfactorydischarge pattern in an elongated area of relative low height such asfound in cooling tower constructions.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A cooling tower sprinkler nozzle comprises anozzle body having a flow passageway therethrough and a pair of arcuatesplitter elements positioned in spaced relation to the orifice of theflow passageway and arranged to split off relatively smaller portions ofa stream of fluid directed therebetween. The cooling tower sprinklernozzle locates the pair of arcuate splitter elements in spaced relationto one another and in oppositely disposed relation to the center line ofan extension of the flow passageway in the sprinkler nozzle. Thesplitter elements are part of a cylindrical pintle carried on the armsof the sprinkler frame which extends from the opposite sides of thesprinkler nozzle body.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a side elevation of the coolingtower sprinkler nozzle.

FIG. 2 is a vertical section on line 22 of FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a bottom elevation of the cooling tower sprinkler nozzle ofFIG. 1 and FIG. 4 is a side elevation of the cooling tower sprinklernozzle mounted on a fluid supply pipe and illustrating the manner ofwater distribution therefrom.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT In its simplest form the coolingtower sprinkler nozzle comprises a nozzle body having an exterior threadpattern 11 thereon, the nozzle body 10 defining a flow passageway 12longitudinally thereof. As seen in FIGS. I and 2 of the drawings thenozzle body 10 has an inlet orifice 13 at its lower end and a dischargeorifice 14 at its upper end. A pair of oppositely disposed arms 15extend from the opposite sides of the nozzle body 10 in a semicircularpattern and are joined at their outermost ends by a pintle 16 the outerand inner surfaces of which are angularly disposed with respect to oneanother. The pintle 16 is cylindrical with a secondary flow passageway17 axially thereof and the areas of the pintle 16 extending between theupper ends of the arms 15 of the sprinkler nozzle define arcuate,tapered splitter elements 18.

By referring to FIG. 2 of the drawings in particular it will be seenthat a broken line has been positioned on the axial center line of theflow passageway 12 and that it extends through the pintle 16 and betweenthe arcuate splitter elements 18 and thereby on the axial center line ofthe spaced pair of splitter elements 18. Thus a column of fluid directedthrough the discharge orifice 14 of the nozzle will generally passthrough the secondary flow passageway 17 formed by the spaced splitterelements 18. The lower ends of the splitter elements 18 which arepointed toward the discharge orifice 14 are very narrow and the splitterelements 18 widen progressively upwardly therefrom.

It will thus be observed, by still referring to FIG. 2 of the drawings,that portions of a fluid stream emerging from the discharge orifice 114will be split off by the pair of arcuate splitter elements 18 thuswidening the discharge pattern of the sprinkler nozzle.

In FIG. 3 of the drawings, a bottom elevation of the sprinkler nozzlemay be seen and the arcuate configuration of the splitter elements 18may be clearly seen.

In FIG. 4 of the drawings, the cooling tower sprinkler nozzle body 10 isshown threadably engaged in a fitting F on a fluid supply pipe P and acolumn of fluid is illustrated with its central portion C flowingthrough the pintle 16 between the arcuate splitter elements 18 andoutwardly in a desired long, narrow discharge pattern. A pair of splitoff discharge streams S will also be seen as occasioned by the conicalsplitter elements 18. The discharge pattern illustrated is particularlysuitable for directing fire extinguishing fluids between the severalsections of a cooling tower and/or into any other relatively elongatedlimited height area where fire protection sprinklers are indicated.

It will thus be seen that the cooling tower sprinkler nozzle disclosedherein provides an efficient and novel construction in that it may belargely formed from a conventional sprinkler head by the modification ofthe flow passageway therethrough and the alteration of the pintle areathereof to form the secondary flow passageway 117 of the invention andthe spaced arcuate splitter members which are particularly suitable forsplitting off desired portions of a main fluid stream to provide adesirable and improved discharge pattern. A particular advantage of theconstruction is its ability to shape the split off discharge patterns asillustrated at S in FIG. 4 of the drawings into spray patterns that aregenerally arcuate and thus conform desirably to the main cylindricalcolumn of fluid directed from the nozzle.

Having thus described my invention, what I clam is:

1. A fire extinguishing sprinkler nozzle comprising a hollow nozzle bodyhaving a passageway therethrough with an inlet end and a discharge end,an attachment means at said inlet end thereof for connecting the nozzlebody to a source of liquid and a discharge opening at the discharge end,a pair of diametrically opposed, arcuate, outwardly curved support armsintegral with said body at one of their ends and terminating at theirouter ends in a stream splitter comprising a pair of diametricallyopposed splitter elements each having an outwardly tapered surface andeach having a pointed edge toward the nozzle body and a relatively wideedge away from the nozzle body, said outwardly tapered surfaces curvingoutwardly and then inwardly from the pointed edge toward the wide edge,said stream splitter having a passageway therethrough in alignment withthe discharge opening, the diameter of the discharge opening beingsubstantially greater than the diameter of the passageway through thestream splitter so that a central portion of the liquid discharged fromthe discharge end of the body passes between the support arms andthrough the opening in the stream splitter, and the curved, outwardlytapered surfaces of the splitter elements diverting opposite portions ofthe liquid discharged from the discharge end of the body into separate,curved streams which conform substantially to the central portion.

2. The sprinkler nozzle of claim 1 and wherein the members splitterelements for splitting said stream of fluid are curved on their outersurfaces both circumferentially and longitudinally.

3. The sprinkler nozzle of claim 1 and wherein the nozzle bodyconfiguration adjacent its discharge end has converging walls reducingthe diameter of the discharge opening with respect to the inlet of saidnozzle body.

4. The sprinkler nozzle of claim 1 and wherein the inner cross sectionalshape of said stream splitter is cylindrical.

5. The sprinkler nozzle of claim 1 and wherein the inner cross sectionalshape of said stream splitter is cylindrical and the length thereof isgreater than its diameter.

1. A fire extinguishing sprinkler nozzle comprising a hollow nozzle bodyhaving a passageway therethrough with an inlet end and a discharge end,an attachment means at said inlet end thereof for connecting the nozzlebody to a source of liquid and a discharge opening at the discharge end,a pair of diametrically opposed, arcuate, outwardly curved support armsintegral with said body at one of their ends and terminating at theirouter ends in a stream splitter comprising a pair of diametricallyopposed splitter elements each having an outwardly tapered surface andeach having a pointed edge toward the nozzle body and a relatively wideedge away from the nozzle body, said outwardly tapered surfaces curvingoutwardly and then inwardly from the pointed edge toward the wide edge,said stream splitter having a passageway therethrough in alignment withthe discharge opening, the diameter of the dischArge opening beingsubstantially greater than the diameter of the passageway through thestream splitter so that a central portion of the liquid discharged fromthe discharge end of the body passes between the support arms andthrough the opening in the stream splitter, and the curved, outwardlytapered surfaces of the splitter elements diverting opposite portions ofthe liquid discharged from the discharge end of the body into separate,curved streams which conform substantially to the central portion. 2.The sprinkler nozzle of claim 1 and wherein the members splitterelements for splitting said stream of fluid are curved on their outersurfaces both circumferentially and longitudinally.
 3. The sprinklernozzle of claim 1 and wherein the nozzle body configuration adjacent itsdischarge end has converging walls reducing the diameter of thedischarge opening with respect to the inlet of said nozzle body.
 4. Thesprinkler nozzle of claim 1 and wherein the inner cross sectional shapeof said stream splitter is cylindrical.
 5. The sprinkler nozzle of claim1 and wherein the inner cross sectional shape of said stream splitter iscylindrical and the length thereof is greater than its diameter.